December 13/11 19:37 pm - Milton to Pursue 2015 Pan Am Velodrome

Posted by Editoress on 12/13/11

The city council of Milton has voted 9-2 to move forward with a plan to build the indoor velodrome for the 2015 Pan American Games. After the original host bid city of Hamilton pulled out very late in the process, there was a hurried search to find a community willing to contribute the local portion of the funding - estimated at $15 million of the total $40 million budget, with Milton, Vaughan and Markham all possibilities.

The Milton option became more likely after a planned Wilfrid Laurier University campus was proposed as a location, and when Peter Gilgan, the president of Mattamy Homes and a long time supporter of cycling, made a commitment to the city to donate $7 million, plus an additional $2 million for naming rights.

The Milton Council then voted last night to commit to a local share of $17.6 million, with the proviso that the total budget not exceed $40 million. The city will now hire a consultant to prepare a business plan and verify operating costs, community use and legacy requirements, with the plan expected to be finalized and approved in the next four to six weeks. We are told by sources that this could mean the site specific RFP (Requests for Proposal) could be underway by the end of February 2012.